Faculty Engaged in Quality Improvement

In addition to faculty members formally appointed as clinicians in quality and innovation, a number of Department of Medicine faculty members engage in scholarly activities in the areas of research and education that relate closely to quality improvement (QI). As a result, there is a broader network of clinician-teachers/educators and clinician-investigators/scientists who are engaged in quality and innovation. Below are some of these faculty members:

	Howard Abrams Director, OpenLab, and general internist at University Health Network (UHN) Using Design Thinking to change the process and experience of care Predictive models Creative models of patient engagement
	Jonathan Ailon General internist and palliative care physician at St. Michael's Hospital and Bridgepoint Health Lead, Incident Analysis Team for general internal medicine, St. Michael's Hospital Lead, Undergraduate Ultrasound Committee, and Postgraduate Ultrasound Half-Day, University of Toronto - Development of targeted curricula to enhance diagnostic accuracy and procedural safety Member, Palliative Care Quality and Safety Committee, St. Michael's Hospital - critical incident review and development of ambulatory palliative care services to improve access and quality of care for patients with palliative diagnoses Building capacity amongst medical trainees and allied healthcare personnel in patient safety and quality improvement through curricular development, project supervision, and mentorship
	Andre Amaral Intensive care physician and co-chair of quality for critical care at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Focusing on communication, to prevent errors and improve efficiency in the ICU, as well as transitions for patients Participating in a novel implementation science collaboration across Ontario for large-scale quality improvement in a partnership of community and academic intensive care units Chair of Choosing Wisely Campaign for Critical Care Canada
	Natasha Bollegala Staff gastroenterologist at Women’s College Hospital Assistant Professor and Clinician Investigator in quality and innovation Interest in the area of quality improvement and vulnerable populations in IBD Particular focus on pediatric to adult transition of care
	Trevor Champagne Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Division of Dermatology Innovation Fellow, WCH Institute for Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care Working hard to expand the breadth of virtual care in Dermatology (both outpatients and inpatients) Artificial intelligence (diagnostic, predictive, classifiers, drug reactions)
	Lucas Chartier Emergency physician, Deputy Medical Director and Director of Quality & Innovation, University Health Network Emergency Department Lead for Emergency Medicine, Toronto Central LHIN Chair, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians' QIPS Committee Interests: capacity building in QIPS through education and mentorship (including with CAEP), return visits to ED (including with HQO), resource appropriateness (including with Choosing Wisely Canada)
	Amy Cheng Emergency physician at St. Michael’s Hospital Emergency department director of quality improvement Choosing Wisely Canada - co-chair of Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians Improving the quality and safety during transitions of care Quality improvement and patient safety curriculum for postgraduate trainees Individual physician feedback
	Shirley Lake Promoting safe and quality care in rheumatology through: Building capacity in patient safety and quality improvement amongst medical trainees and rheumatologists through education, project supervision, and mentorship Co-chair of Choosing Wisely committee of the Canadian Rheumatology Association - advocating for the resource stewardship of finite resources amongst membership, improving appropriate resource utilization of rheumatology tests and serology Development of curriculum and continuing education in point-of-care musculoskeletal ultrasound – Educational officer for Canadian Rheumatology Ultrasound Society
	Irfan Dhalla Vice-President, Physician Quality and Director, Care Experience Institute, Unity Health Toronto General internist at St. Michael’s Hospital site of Unity Health Toronto Associate Professor in Department of Medicine and Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto Working collaboratively to embed quality improvement and better care experience across Unity Health Toronto
	Edward Etchells General Internal Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Medical Director, Information Services, at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Senior faculty mentor, Clinicians in Quality and Innovation, Department of Medicine Creative professional focus: reducing medication errors at admission and discharge through user centered design of clinical software
	Natasha Gakhal Rheumatologist and Clinician in Quality and Innovation at Women’s College Hospital Improving triage and access to rheumatology care Improving communication and collaboration between subspecialty and primary care Education and mentorship in quality improvement
	Sonal Gandhi Medical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, breast and melanoma Assistant Professor, Dept. of Medicine, University of Toronto Quality Lead, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Dept. of Medical Oncology Previous Systemic Therapy Quality Lead, Toronto Central North, Cancer Care Ontario (2012-2019) MSc training in International Health Technology Assessment and Management Cancer systemic therapy toxicity management (particularly immunotherapy), oral anti-cancer medication standardization and safety, optimizing care at end-of-life for cancer patients, clinical care guidelines (breast cancer), interdisciplinary models of care, and health technologies in cancer
	Bill Geerts Thromboembolism specialist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre National Lead, Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism, Canadian Patient Safety Institute Quality improvement in the provision of optimal thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized patients Prevention of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
	Ilana Halperin Endocrinologist and internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Capturing point of clinical care data and patient reported metrics to improve quality of care for patients with diabetes Improving experience and outcome of hospitalized patients with diabetes Optimizing electronic medical record use to drive quality improvement
	Susy Hota Infectious Diseases and Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control, University Health Network Associate Professor and Clinician in Quality Improvement and Innovation, University of Toronto Interests include exploring innovative ways to reduce the incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection and improve patient outcomes; health systems preparedness for emerging infectious diseases; reducing healthcare-associated infections Co-lead of University of Toronto Microbiota Therapeutics Outcomes Program (MTOP) – regionally facilitating fecal microbiota transplantation for multidisciplinary research and clinical care in CDI
	Trevor Jamieson General Internist at St. Michael’s and Women’s College Hospitals; Lead for Virtual Care, Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV) Information Technology tools to improve care continuity, collaboration and handover Design of frameworks for the evaluation of virtual care technologies Evaluation of the impact of virtual care technologies (e.g. apps, wearables) on patient experience, efficiency, economics and health outcomes
	Charles Kassardjian Neurologist, St. Michael's Hospital Education and curriculum development for post-graduate trainees in quality improvement, and methods of evaluation Improving the quality and consistency of care for complex neuromuscular patients on immunosuppression Patient safety issues around EMG and the reliability of EMG testing Improving outcomes for inpatient stroke
	Janice Kwan General internist and clinician in quality and innovation at Sinai Health System Diagnostic error Follow-up of missed test results Quality and safety of care in general internal medicine Education and mentorship in quality and safety
	Jerome Leis General internist and infectious diseases specialist; associate scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention and Control - evaluation of new systems of care to prevent healthcare-associated infections and spread of antimicrobial resistance Resource stewardship of finite resources - reduction in unnecessary microbiologic testing that leads to cascade of low-value care Choosing Wisely Canada - co-chair of Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (AMMI) Canada
	Alex Lo Physiatrist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network Curriculum and faculty development in quality improvement and patient safety Quality improvement education and mentorship for physicians and interprofessional teams Adapting Morbidity and Mortality Rounds to rehabilitation Improving quality of care and safety for patients in rehabilitation
	Amanda Mayo Physiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; assistant professor Department of Medicine Clinician in quality and innovation, clinical engineer Improving the continuum of care for amputee patients Risk factor modification in dysvascular amputees
	Kieran McIntyre Respirologist and cystic fibrosis (CF) physician at St. Michael's Hospital Systems design and optimizing complex multidisciplinary care to patients with CF Reducing unnecessary testing in respirology-Choosing Wisely Innovative model of care for patients with malignant pleural effusion
	Geetha Mukerji Endocrinologist and general internist, Women’s College Hospital, cross-affiliated with Sinai Health System Clinician in quality and innovation, Women's College Hospital Institute for Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care Developing better quality measures in diabetes ambulatory care with a focus on incorporating the patient perspective Resource stewardship efforts to promote value in endocrinology System improvement efforts to improve ambulatory care including delivery models that focus on patients with chronic complex conditions, pediatric to adult transitions of care and diabetes in pregnancy populations Building capacity in quality improvement and patient safety through education and mentorship
	Jeff Powis General Internist & Infectious Diseases specialist at Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General Hospital) Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention and Control - Evaluation of new systems of care to optimize antimicrobial utilization and spread of antimicrobial resistance Microbiology Stewardship - Reduction in unnecessary microbiologic testing that leads to cascade of low-value care
	Shail Rawal General internist and clinician in quality and innovation at University Health Network Intersection of health equity and quality improvement Characterizing the uses of patient-level sociodemographic data to improve patient care Improving the quality of care received by patients with limited English proficiency. Quality and safety of care in general internal medicine
	Kaveh Shojania General internist and clinician-scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Evidence synthesis in quality improvement and patient safety – identifying evidence-based patient safety interventions and effective strategies for translating evidence into practice Promoting more rigorous research in the fields of patient safety and quality improvement through writing and medical editing activities (editor-in-chief of BMJ Quality & Safety Quality since 2011) Education and training in quality improvement methods
	Simron Singh Medical oncologist, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre Provincial Head, Person Centered Care, Canadian Cancer Ontario Associate scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences Using the patient experience to drive clinical care Interested in patient experience, patient engagement, disparities in cancer Choosing Wisely in oncology
	Christine Soong Associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Hospital Medicine Division Head at Sinai Health System Medical Lead for Sinai Health System’s Urgent and Critical Care Program Improving care transitions and hospital discharge and the quality of care for orthopedic hip fracture patients Resource stewardship and reducing the inappropriate use of psychotropic medications in hospitalized patients
	Amanda Steiman Rheumatologist at Sinai Health System/University Health Network, clinician in quality and innovation Co-Lead Project ECHO Rheumatology (Ontario) Improving delivery of care to rheumatology patients in underserviced areas Improving quality of care to patients with multisystemic rheumatic disease Education and mentorship in quality improvement
	Kathryn Tinckam Transplant nephrologist and medical director of the regional human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Laboratory at University Health Network Medical advisor – Transplantation, Canadian Blood Services Aligning HLA laboratory practices in support of interprovincial transplant listing and allocation programs Development of interprovincial transplant listing and allocation policy and process Strategies to predict the likelihood of transplant matching for recipients and donors in Kidney Paired Exchange Determination of potential benefit of compatible pair participation in Kidney Paired Exchange
	Samuel Vaillancourt Quality improvement lead for the emergency department at St. Michael's Hospital Emergency physician and trauma team leader Developed a patient reported outcome measure for use with emergency department patients (PROM-ED.org) Interested in quality measurement and in design methodology to support quality improvement work
	Amol Verma General internist and clinician-scientist at St. Michael's Hospital Improving quality in inpatient general internal medicine using audit-and-feedback Incorporating predictive analytics to improve patient outcomes in hospital Using electronic clinical data to measure quality of care and identify opportunities for improvement
	Adina Weinerman General internist and clinician in quality and innovation at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Medical Director, Quality and Patient Safety at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Implementation and evaluation of hospital-wide appropriate resource utilization initiatives
	Adam Weizman Gastroenterologist, Sinai Health System Assistant professor of medicine, University of Toronto Head, Quality and Patient Safety, Division of Gastroenterology, University Health Network/Sinai Health System Guideline development and implementation among patients with inflammatory bowel disease Development of new models of care in patients with digestive diseases Education and mentorship in quality improvement and patient safety
	Brian Wong General internist and clinician-educator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Building capacity to engage in and teach patient safety, quality improvement and resource stewardship through curricular innovation and faculty development Promoting the alignment and integration of continuing education and quality improvement Research on patient safety, including disclosure, patient handover and duty hours
	Camilla Wong Geriatrician, St. Michael's Hospital; project investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute Implementation and evaluation of a proactive geriatric trauma consultation service Optimizing stratification of older oncology patients for comprehensive geriatric assessment
	Robert Wu General internist at University Health Network Site Director, General Internal Medicine, Toronto General Hospital Using and evaluating information technology to improve care Improving clinical communication including smartphones, messaging, handovers Improving efficiency on the medical wards